


Undercover Adventures

by orangelightsaber



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Crack, F/M, Fluff, reydar - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-02-05
Packaged: 2018-05-16 16:24:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5832484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orangelightsaber/pseuds/orangelightsaber
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kylo Ren gets suspicious of a new maintenance tech he decides to go undercover on his own ship to investigate. Thus, MATT THE RADAR TECHNICIAN is born.</p><p> </p><p>COMPLETE.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Deep Cover

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy!
> 
> If you'd like to see all the (admittedly terrible) art I make as well my tumblr is 
> 
> [here](http://orange-lightsaber.tumblr.com/tagged/my-art)!

Onboard the bridge of the _Finalizer_ , an alarm sounded loudly.

 

Kylo Ren let out a loud “Ughhhh” and dragged a hand over the eye-holes of his mask. “Hux, what is it this time? This is the third alarm in 15 minutes. I know we’re in the middle of something, but I swear they never happen this often.”

 

General Hux was distracted, giving orders as they took fire from the Resistance freighter ship they were trying to down. If they could keep up this blockade they might just be able to starve the Resistance out. The last thing he needed right now was a whiny Kylo Ren distracting him.

 

“It’s escape pod 12. It’s the same alarm that’s been going off this whole time.” He spared a cursory glance back at the Knight, “If you bothered to learn the alarm codes you would know that.”

 

Kylo made a face behind his mask.

 

“Go find out what the problem is if its bothering you so much,” said Hux.

 

“Send some troopers to do it,” growled Kylo, further annoyed.

 

“They’re busy doing _important_ things,” said Hux coldly, “You are the only one being bothered, so I suggest you handle it.”

 

To Hux’s delight the Knight stomped out of the room.

* * *

  

Kylo stormed down the hallway, muttering to himself. He was even angrier because he had forgotten how absolutely enormous the _Finalizer_ was. Where the hell were those escape pods?

 

“Stupid Hux.” He said, putting on a falsetto voice, “Go tend to the problem Kylo, all the stormtroopers are otherwise occupied,” he dropped back into his normal growl. “Just because he’s busy doesn’t mean I suddenly become available for grunt work…”

 

Finally he recognized the area of the ship he was in. The escape pods were in a relatively deserted corridor. Here below decks, with no view ports, it was easy to forget a blockade was raging outside. The numbers on the pods at his left were decreasing as he walked, bringing him closer to the problem pod. Should be just around the corner now…

 

To his surprise there was already someone at the pod when he reached it. She was young, maybe a few years younger than him, wearing a standard grey maintenance flightsuit, her hair- dark black- was pulled back into a simple braid. Hazel eyes peered out from behind thick-rimmed glasses. She was pulling at some wires, an expression of concern on her face.

 

He paused, examining the scene. She didn’t notice him.

 

“That doesn’t seem to be helping,” he said, his voice robotic behind his mask, “Are you _trying_ to make it worse?”

 

The girl jumped about a mile into the air. “Ah, Kylo Ren! I---did _not_ see you standing there.”

 

Her lack of respect surprised him, grunts should know their place. Most of them refused to even speak in his presence. “Lord Ren,” he corrected her sternly.

 

She could hardly hide a grin at that. “Right, of course, _Lord_ Ren,” she corrected herself, “Do I bow—or---?” She swept into a bow, complete with flourished hands. When she stood again there was a swipe of grease on her face. She seemed familiar to him, somehow.

 

Rather than anger him further, her response amused him. She was intriguing, this maintenance girl. Something about her---

 

“What is your name, tech?”

 

“It—its Ye--Yeera,” she said, with some hesitation _. Probably fearing a demerit for speaking back to an officer_ , he thought to himself.

 

“Continue your maintenance Yeera,” he gestured toward the pod, “If you can get this blasted alarm off I won’t report you for lack of appropriate respect toward an officer.”

 

“Is that an actual offense?” she asked in surprise.

 

“I can make it one,” he replied sharply.

 

She bit her lips at that, hiding another grin. _Is she laughing at me?_ How could she be so continually impertinent? He would have to talk to Hux about where they were hiring their staff from these days. They needed to be taught some basic respect.

 

The girl crouched down and went back to pulling on the wires. After a few seconds the incessant shrilling of the alarm finally ceased. _Finally, I can finally think again,_ thought Kylo in relief.

 

She turned back to look at him and raised her eyebrows. _Expecting what—praise? Thanks?_

 

“Yes, well. Acceptable job,” he said. Her eyes sparkled at that and it flustered him. _She’s laughing at me again. No one laughs at me. I should definitely NOT like it that she’s doing that._ He coughed, which sounded stupid through the mask, “Well—back to work, tech.”

 

He turned and strode down the corridor.

 

As he returned to his quarters in officer’s row, many decks above, he just couldn’t get the maintenance technician out of his head. Something was _off_ about her. He would have to investigate further.

 

* * *

  

Kylo adjusted the blonde wig on his head and pushed the glasses further up his nose. Unbeknownst to Hux, and just about everyone else on board the _Finalizer_ , they were his real glasses, not just part of his disguise. It was nice to take his contacts out for once and not worry about ruining his image. He ran his hands over the dusty coveralls.

 

Kylo stopped quickly in to the Officer’s mess before heading down to the lower decks. Hux was sitting there, reading his paper and drinking a cup of caf. _Maybe he just won’t notice me,_ thought Kylo as he strode quickly across the room to grab food.

 

Unfortunately Hux recognized him by his stomping stride.

 

“Ren! So glad you were able to handle that alarm _emergency_ ,” said Hux, without looking out from behind his paper.

 

“Oh, uh, yes. It was a simple fix,” Kylo replied.

 

At the sound of Kylo’s natural voice without the characteristic growl of his mask, Hux peered around the edge of his paper in confusion. Unfortunately, he had just taken a sip of caf, which he promptly spewed all over the table at the sight of the disguised Knight.

 

“Ah hahahaha,” he crowed, “Ren, why in the twelve hells of Mon Grantor are you dressed like that?” His laughing continued until he could barely breathe. His face turned red.

 

“I’m just doing some investigating!” scowled Kylo, using the excuse he had thought up earlier. “The tech I saw, down when I was fixing the alarm, seemed suspicious.”

 

“That does nothing to explain why you are dressed like that,” coughed Hux, doing his best to quiet his laughter.

 

“Well if she’s a resistance spy she won’t reveal that information to me if I look like myself,” said Kylo, glaring at the red-haired man. _How did Hux make even his most brilliant plans seem stupid?_

 

“ _She_?” said Hux, who was quicker on the uptake than Kylo would have liked.

 

“Its none of your business anyway,” snarled Kylo, grabbing a muffin from the breakfast bar.

 

“Of course Kylo,” sighed Hux, fluffing his newspaper out and beginning to read again. “Let me know when you catch the Rebel scum.”

 

Kylo stormed out of the room.

 

As he left he could hear Hux trying to stifle further laughs, “I can’t wait to tell Phasma…Matt the radar technician!” He dissolved into laughter again.

 

* * *

 

 

Kylo scowled as he stomped down the hallway. This ship was so goddam big, it was impossible to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time.

 

Blending in with the grunts was surprisingly easy. Some coveralls and a crooked nametag and he was _in_ , no one questioned him. The only problem was remembering to be friendly. It didn’t exactly come naturally.

 

A group of people came around the corner, chatting amiably.

 

He ignored them, continuing his trek down the hallway. His stomping gait drew mystified glances from the group.

 

“Hey...” One of the men glanced down at Kylo’s name-tag, “…Matt. Everything alright man?”

 

“Oh, uh,” ~~Kylo~~ Matt scrambled for words, “Just, uh, having a rough morning, that’s all. Nothing unusual, really. How are you doing?”

 

The man laughed kindly. Kylo bristled involuntarily but reminded himself not to react. He plastered a smile on his face. One of the other men recoiled briefly at the sight.

 

The laughing man continued, “Mondays man, I know that feeling. You, sir, need a good strong cup of caf. C’mon, we’re headed to the mess now.” The man, shortish, dark haired, and dressed in a maintenance jumpsuit, clapped Kylo jovially on the shoulder. Kylo stiffened at the touch but forced himself to relax. _You’re just one of the guys now. Stay cool._

 

Thinking the mess would be a good start to finding the tech from earlier, Kylo followed them.

* * *

 


	2. The Mess Hall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having fun taking a break from my other piece and writing some silly Rey and Kylo. Enjoy!

* * *

 

Sitting in the mess hall and nursing a cup of caf, Rey ran a hand through her hair, stopping just short of the braid. The dye she had used to darken it made it uncharacteristically slippery. It felt strange. So did the glasses, sitting heavy on her nose. Once again she was glad she had added them to her disguise however, since even Kylo Ren hadn’t been able to recognize her when he had run into her earlier, and he had seen her before.

 

She chuckled to herself as she remembered the events of earlier. Docking the stolen escape pod back up into the ship had been quite the feat of clever flying, if she could say so herself, but she hadn’t expected the alarm to trigger. _Finn told me they only trigger when the pods are fired but he's probably just never seen one dock, since they’re not made to come back._ Poe, also on board disguised as a gunner, had taken off while she stayed to fix the alarm, no use in both of them getting caught.

She had been scrambling to fix the alarm problem when Lord Jerk himself had arrived. Thankfully, her disguise had worked like a charm. _Hah,_ she laughed to herself, _so much for the dreaded ‘power of the dark side.’ Can’t even recognize a spy right under your nose._ She took another sip of caf, ignored the grey glop they were calling porridge that was sitting in front of her, and continued scrolling through the holopad.

 

Once again she thanked Finn for his good memory. Despite several months having passed since he was last on board, he had been able to give them a pretty good working schema of the ship. She was scrolling through his sketches on her holopad now. _Poor Finn,_ she thought with dismay. He'd been so upset to see Rey and Poe go without him. He'd wanted so desperately to come on the mission as well, but they had all agreed that the risk of him being recognized was just too high, even with a disguise.

 

The sound of metal scraping metal made her look up. A blonde, bespectacled man stood in front of her, sliding his tray slowly across the table.

 

“Mind if I join you?” he asked. His voice was stiff, awkward.

 

Rey quickly scrolled further down the holopad to a text filled page, in case he could see what she was reading. She glanced around the mess, almost every other table was empty, or mostly empty. _What was this guy’s deal?_ She gave him a once over, trying to get a good read on him. His slightly crooked nameplate read, ‘Matt: Radar Technician.’ He seemed oddly familiar.

 

 _Hmm,_ she thought, _a radar technician could be useful._ The main point of this undercover excursion was finding a way to get ships through the blockade, allowing supplies to finally reach the Resistance again. _Knocking out the radar would definitely help with that._

 

She put on a bright smile and shrugged, “Sure, have a seat.”

 

“Hi,” He said, sliding awkwardly onto the bench across from her.

 

“Yeera,” she said, extending her hand. His hand was warm and large, dwarfing her own.

 

“Matt…is my name,” he said, “You new here?”

 

She shrugged, recalling the story that she and Leia had concocted before beginning the mission. “To the ship? Yeah, only been onboard a few days. Came on the last shuttle. But I was working for the First Order as a mech in the Hapes Cluster before this.”

 

He watched her intently as she spoke. It was unnerving. She quickly stopped talking.

 

“Yeah, me too,” he said.

 

“You---also worked as a mechanic in the Hapes Cluster?” asked Rey, smiling.

 

“Oh, uh, no!” backpedaled Matt, flushing slightly, “I meant, I’m new too. To the ship. I’m from---,” he searched his mind desperately, “Corellia.” _Damn it Kylo, why would you say that? Saying nothing would have been better than that._

 

Yeera nodded and went back to pushing her porridge around, not knowing what to say. Thankfully, Kylo was spared from having to think for a moment as the holoscreens in the corner of the room flickered to life.

 

There was a collective groan from the assembled workers. Kylo almost groaned himself when he realized what was playing. It was an old propaganda piece, one that he had helped make. He could feel his face getting hot with embarrassment.

 

The holovid version of himself, masked and cloaked, battled his way across the screen, slicing resistance soldiers open with his lightsaber and pushing others back with the Force. General Hux’s voiceover boomed out through the comm set, imploring the viewers to behold the strength of the First Order, to be proud of the commitment that they made to the New Empire, and not to forget to recruit others to the cause. The scene ended with a shot of Kylo, facing the camera, lightsaber glowing ominously in his hands. The words ‘Join the First Order Today’ blazed bright across the screen. As it faded the day’s news scrolled over the screen.

 

 _How in the galaxy did Hux rope me into doing that?_ Kylo asked himself. He dragged his hands down his face, knocking his glasses askew, and stifled a noise of disgust.

 

“Ugh, I really hate that guy,” said Yeera, picking at her food and trying to ignore the blare of the holoscreen. More workers were filing into the mess hall now, filling up the surrounding tables.

 

“You do?” asked Kylo, surprised at the vehemence in her voice. After all, their interaction yesterday hadn’t been _that_ bad. He thought he had been pretty nice actually. _I could have reported her to her supervisor._ He tried to keep his tone casual as he said, “He doesn’t seem to bad.”

 

“Kylo Ren?---Doesn’t seem that bad?” her voice was incredulous.

 

“Well, he’s fighting for us, isn’t he? The world is a messed up place and maybe he just needs to—rule it—you know, for the good of everyone…”

 

Yeera pursed her lips and made a face, “You seem to really---admire him...”

 

 _Kriff, she’s right. Tone it down Kylo. You want her to trust you._ “Oh, well… everyone on Corellia—they just love him. He’s Corellian you know. Kind of a national hero.”

 

A gruff voice boomed out from behind Kylo. “You guys talking about Lord Mask, his own high and mighty self?” He turned to see a large belly preceding an even larger man. The man dropped his tray onto the table and joined them, not bothering to ask for permission.

 

Kylo had to stop a sneer from creeping up onto his face. _So much for an uninterrupted breakfast. I just want to get to know Yeera better…because she is suspicious, of course._

“I heard he can’t even do all that magic stuff they show in the props,” the man continued, “I mean, he’s got the glow sword alright, we’ve all seen that more than we would like, but I think they just make the people move around with effects and stuff. You just can’t throw people without touching them.”

 

“He’s using the Force!” said Kylo, outraged. He looked at Yeera to see whether she agreed with this imbecile, but she was wisely staring down at her gruel, keeping her mouth shut and her expression unreadable.

 

Kylo bristled at her silence. For some reason he had been hoping she would back him up.

“The _Force_ ,” said the man, putting a surprising amount of scorn into the word, “is just a dumb name for an ancient, hokey religion. It can’t actually do anything, and who’s to say that Himself could even use it, if it were real?”

 

“Of course its real!” said Matt angrily. “The Knights of Ren are the only reason the First Order has been as successful as it has been. Without them, we’d be nowhere!”

 

Yeera’s eyes were shrewd as she peered over at him. Kylo suddenly faltered.

 

“—Or at least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

 

Yeera made a face at that, and the older man laughed loudly. The man took a sip from his cup of caf. Kylo squeezed his hand closed under the table.

 

The man started to choke. Gasping he clawed at his neck, his face turning bright red and then slowly purple.

 

“Oh no,” said Kylo, deadpan, “He is choking on food.”

 

Yeera leapt up and starting pounding on the man’s back. Kylo released the pressure. The man coughed and sputtered.

 

“You alright?’ asked Yeera, pushing up glasses that had slipped down her nose.

 

“Fine, fine,” said the man, waving her off, “Just got something caught in my throat.” He turned and spat onto the ground.

_Ugh, the manners on this one are sorely lacking,_ thought Kylo.

 

As though he had heard Kylo’s thought, he seemed to remember his manners, if only slightly. He reached out a hand to Matt and then to Yeera, introducing himself. “I’m Korto, by the way. I run the supply store. You two look like a coupla’ fresh faces. Not often we get new recruits sent straight down here, usually you spend a week with Anduro first.”

 

To Kylo’s surprise he wasn’t the only one scrambling for words. Yeera’s eyes looked panicked for a moment before she answered.

 

“Oh--well, I’m new to the ship but I’m not new to the _Order_ , I mean, I’ve been working for you guys for years, uh, Hapes Cluster. The station outpost there.”

 

Matt’s mouth moved mechanically, “I, also, worked for the order before coming here. But not on the same planet as her, on a different planet. So no additional training necessary for me also.”

 

Korto nodded, seemingly satisfied, and turned back to Yeera. “Hapes Cluster Outpost you say? You wouldn’t happen to know Ungor, would you? He’s a friend of mine, been working out there.”

 

Yeera shook her head, “No, but that’s not unusual. It’s a big station, lots of people.” For a fraction of a second Kylo thought he saw her hand wave under the table.

 

“Yeah, big station, lots of people,” repeated Korto. He seemed slightly dazed, his head drifting down to look at his porridge, eyes lighting up when he saw it. “Ah, good rations today,” he smiled, digging in with aplomb.

 

Matt made a noise of disbelief. Yeera peered down at the porridge in surprise to see if she had missed something.

 

“Ah, you scoff now young bloods, but when we get low on rations and all you’ve eaten for weeks is protein biscuits, this stuff’ll look like gold.”

 

Kylo prodded at the food in curiosity. He had never had a protein biscuit. Perhaps this _would_ seem good by comparison. His belly growled loudly.

 

This whole plan was just becoming one big annoyance. He had just wanted to talk to Yeera, and here he was, trapped in conversation with this rude idiot. _I’ll have to talk to Hux about getting that man transferred. Or maybe he’ll just have a bad run in with Kylo Ren…_

 

He smiled at that, and without thinking, scooped a spoonful of gruel into his mouth. _Mistake._ He thought as his eyes grew wide in panic. He had never tasted anything so terrible. He opened his mouth instinctively and the porridge fell back out into the bowl.

 

As she witnessed his disaster Yeera burst out laughing. Her eyes crinkled up and her mouth went wide in a smile. She tossed her head back as she crowed at him. Looking at her, he felt like an arrow had struck him in the chest. _I guess I can continue this plan a little longer,_ he thought _. Just until I make sure she’s not up to anything._

* * *

 


	3. Snippets

* * *

  

Kylo followed Yeera as she left the mess hall. He wasn’t sure why, it just…seemed like the right thing to do. It was odd for him to want to spend _more_ time in someone’s company and yet, here he was, walking next to her.

 

“Don’t you have an assignment you have to get to?” asked Yeera, confused by his presence.

 

“Oh, yeah, yes? But the radar is down for—cleaning,” said Matt. “So I don’t have to be there until later.”

 

She seemed unconvinced, “Uh, ok. Well, I actually do have an assignment to get to. I have to do some maintenance on one of the upper decks…” She tried to brush past him on her way but he was undeterred, and frankly, impossible to outpace with those long strides of his. How was it possible for a person to be so lanky?

 

“Oh, I’ll join you,” said Matt.

 

And that’s how they had reached this point. Rey was tucked halfway in the wall, lying on her back with her feet sticking out into the hallway, pretending to repair wires that she herself had just broken in order to give the semblance of work. Matt was sitting in the hallway next to her, back against the wall. Talking.

 

They, well mostly Matt, kept up a steady stream of talk. Nothing too personal, just ‘how are you settling in?,’ ‘The quarters are small,’ ‘The food is terrible,’ that kind of thing. Matt harped on the food for quite a long while actually. He seemed to be pretty well informed about what they were eating up in the Officer’s Mess, and he was _not_ thrilled about the lack of quality below decks.

 

 _How am I going to get any sabotage done if this guy keeps following me?_  Rey thought to herself. _I don’t want this mission to last any longer than necessary._

Her stomach growled. She heard Matt laugh in surprise at how loud it was.

 

“Hungry?” he asked her, and poked her in the stomach with a finger.

 

The unexpected contact surprised her and she sat up with a jolt, smacking her head on the inside of the wall. “Ow!” she cried, feeling a sharp pain open up on her forehead. She scooted herself forward so she could sit up properly.

 

“Oh, you hurt yourself,” said Matt, his expression worried. She noticed that he didn’t apologize, despite the fact that it was his fault.

 

“Yeah, well, you startled me,” she said, her voice accusatory as she swiped her hand across her forehead. When she pulled it back she could see a smear of blood.

 

“C’mon, I’ll fix it,” said Matt, pulling her to her feet. “There’s a med station close by.”

 

She shook her head, “We’re not allowed to access anything on this level of the ship. We’ll have to go back below deck. This is Officers and Troopers only.”

 

He rolled his eyes, “Its fine. I know the code to get in. We’ll just grab you a bacta-patch. In and out in a few seconds, what can happen?”

 

“Well, for one, Kylo Ren could catch us and slice us both open with that stupid glow sword of his,” she protested, but she let herself be dragged around the corner to the med station anyway.

 

“He’s not here today,” said Matt with certainty. They reached the door of the med station and he punched in the code. To Rey’s surprise, it opened. She thought he might have been lying in an attempt to show off.

 

“And his lightsaber is _not_ stupid. Its elegant,” he continued as he steered her to the table in the center of the room. Satisfied, he bustled around, quickly grabbing anti-septic and a bacta-patch. He seemed to be familiar with where everything was. Rey wondered if all the med stations had the same layout, or if he had been in here before.

 

“Its broken, is what it is,” said ~~Rey~~ Yeera, “And I know exactly what’s wrong with it…”

 

“Yeah, so do I--” said Matt.

 

“The crystal is cracked,” they said in unison. They stared at each other in surprise. Eventually they both looked away awkwardly. Neither asked how the other could possibly know that.

 

Matt’s hands were warm as he affixed the bacta-patch to Rey’s forehead. He smoothed a hand over it as he finished. Rey forced herself not to squirm under his touch. She didn’t often let people touch her, even for little things. It felt very intimate somehow.

 

“There, all better,” he said. He didn’t move back but rather continued to stand awkwardly close to her.

 

She smiled tightly. “Thanks,” she said, “But I’ve got to get back to work, so...”

 

“Oh, yes. Of course,” said Matt, “I have to do that, also.”

 

* * *

 

“You know the Force is real though, don’t you?” asked Matt the next day.

 

Once again he had claimed that the radar was down, this time struck by an asteroid, and had followed Rey to work. She was doing some repairs on a TIE Fighter, actual assigned work this time, not something she had made up. He had just kind of aimlessly trailed behind her. It was like having a large, blond puppy.

 

“Hand me the spanner,” she ordered, buying herself time to think about whether she should answer his question. He placed a hydroclamp in her hand. _How is it possible that a radar technician has no idea what a spanner is?_ She wondered, not for the first time, what was actually going on with Matt.

 

 _Is it weird that I don’t mind him being here?_ She asked herself. Rey had never really been that good at spending long periods of time with people. _Too long alone on Jakku, I guess_. But strangely, having Matt there didn’t seem to bother her as much as it should. She sighed.

 

“Just ask me if you’re not sure which one I mean,” she said, and handed the hyrdoclamp back to him.

 

“I know what things are,” he insisted.

 

“Ok, sure,” she laughed, “Hand me the spanner then.”

 

Kylo examined the box of tools closely. _Did they not have their names written on them? How was anyone supposed to know what they were?_ He strangely wanted to impress her. For a moment he wished he could tell her who he really was. _That would impress her, if she could see me at the height of my power._ Distracted by the thought, he grabbed another tool at random, hoped it was the right one, and pressed it into her waiting hand

 

She laughed. Sitting up, she wiggled the tool in his face, “ _This_ is a vibroblade.” She dug through the toolbox until she found the spanner. “ _This one_ is the spanner.” She held it up so he could see. “Take a good long look,” she laughed and nudged him in the ribs.

 

He made a face at her and her smile widened. Somewhere above them an alarm sounded loudly.

 

“What does that mean?” asked Yeera.

 

Kylo, who had been learning the alarm codes since Hux’s rebuke the other day, was quick to answer, “Flight deck alarm. Someone is running the blockade.” _Damn,_ he thought, _that means I’ve got to get to the bridge._

“Uh, I have to go,” Matt said quickly, “When the alarms go off it means they—they need the radar technicians to be in place.” He finished lamely. _Kriff, no time to come up with something better._ “I’ll see you later!” he called as he took off running.

 

Rey watched him go, surprisingly athletic as he ran through the docking bay.

 

_I wonder where he’s actually going._

 

* * *

  

“You’ll be gone today then?” asked Hux as Kylo appeared in the Officer’s Mess wearing that ridiculous outfit again.

 

Ren, or rather Matt, nodded. “Not that it’s any of your business Hux, but yes. I’m continuing my undercover surveillance.”

 

Hux watched with interest as Ren proceeded to fill the pockets of his maintenance uniform with food. “And stealing my food is part of this surveillance?”

 

“It’s my food as well,” snapped Kylo. “I'll have you know that the food below decks is essentially inedible, and I’ve got to eat something--” He heaped bacon onto a napkin before folding it up and shoving it into a pocket.

 

“The grunts seem to enjoy it just fine,” responded Hux, as he nibbled delicately at his own breakfast of eggs and toast. “But suit yourself.”

 

Kylo ignored him and headed out of the room. A few seconds later, Phasma entered with her helmet under her arm, dripping with sweat from her morning workout. She wandered over to the breakfast table.

 

“Hey!” she said, outraged, “who took all the bacon?!”

 

* * *

 

Rey rolled her eyes as Matt pulled her out of the mess hall. She hadn’t been eating, but she had been reading the news on the holoscreens, hoping she could find out whether any resistance ships had managed to break through the blockade.

 

“Ok, Matt, what’s the big surprise?” she asked.

 

“Not yet,” he said, as he continued to drag her along by her hand. Searching for a good place… _aha!_ One of the corridors leading to the escape pods caught his eye. It was a dead-end so no one would interrupt them. “Here we go.” He settled himself down on the ground and gestured for Yeera to do the same.

 

Rey sat. Her eyes went wide as Matt began to pull all the stolen food out of his uniform. In a few seconds there was a small feast in front of them. Her mouth watered, it had been days since she had had anything other than watery gruel and suspiciously green-grey meat.

 

“Matt! How did you get this?” she asked in wonder.

 

“I took it from the mess on the upper deck,” he replied, nonchalantly organizing a napkin full of pastries.

 

“You _stole_ it? From the Officer’s mess?” Rey was impressed despite herself. From her own attempts at nighttime spycraft she knew the upper levels were very heavily patrolled. He must be pretty stealthy to sneak in and out without being caught.

 

He shrugged, “I’m sure they have more than they need.” He passed her a muffin, enjoying the look of delight on her face as she devoured it.

 

They sat there, feasting happily in silence, until the bell sounded for work to begin.

 

* * *

 

“Why do you think he wears that stupid mask?” Rey asked Matt as they sat in the mess hall the next afternoon, gesturing to the holoscreen. The ridiculous propaganda piece was playing again. Kylo had learned that it played once every hour on all holoscreens below deck. _I’ve got to talk to Hux about that,_ he reminded himself.

 

“Intimidation,” Matt answered without thinking, “I mean, look at it, it’s terrifying--”

 

“I think it’s kind of dumb,” she snickered, “I bet he just doesn’t want people to see his face. He’s probably really ugly.”

 

“I’ve seen his face,” said Kylo, without thinking. _Blast it, Kylo!_

 

Yeera looked at him in surprise, “You have?”

 

He tired to play it off, “Oh, yeah…everyone on…Corellia…has seen it.”

 

Yeera made a face, “Right, because he’s a—oh, what did you call him?—a _national hero_ there?”

 

Matt nodded sagely, “Mhm. There are posters of him without his mask—for, like, propaganda and stuff. He’s not ugly. The opposite actually, _very_ good looking. Probably just wears the mask so people wont get distracted by it in battle. He does have kind of big ears though.”

 

 _Blast it, she thinks I’m ugly?_ Kylo thought to himself, suddenly very worried, _I wish there was a way I could talk to her when I wasn’t dressed like this. I wish I could talk to her as myself._ Absent-mindedly, worriedly, he reached up to his ears and covered one with a hand.

 

Rey noticed his motion and misinterpreted his face of worry. “Nothing wrong with big ears,” she said, tugging Matt’s hand away from his own, “I think they can be very cute.”

 

Kylo’s face turned crimson. 

 

* * *

 

Rey was working on one of the access ports later, a door that would open but wouldn’t close more than half-way each time. Surprisingly, she hadn’t seen Matt since that morning.

 

On one hand, she thought, that should be good because it freed her up so she could finally get some of her mission objectives done-- but, on the other hand, she’d kind of grown used to him following her around.

 

More distressingly, it seemed that wherever she went today Kylo Ren was there. Checking out her toolbox from the storage room in the morning? There he was, hovering around the area, giving orders to a group of stormtroopers. She took a break to get a cup of caf? He was there again, this time inputting some sort of data into a computer terminal. _Maybe it’s just bad luck._

 

She swore he had walked by her at least five times now. Each time his stomping steps slowed down slightly as they reached where she was working, before speeding up again to presumably stomp around some other area of the ship.

 

She was starting to get worried that she was somehow under surveillance. _Have I done anything suspicious?_ She wondered, but quickly put the thought from her mind, _no, thanks to Matt I haven’t even_ begun _any sort of sabotage._ She thought back on the TIE fighter she had repaired earlier with disappointment, _If anything, I’ve been_ helping _the First Order._

 

She sighed and tried to loosen some of the bolts in the back of the panel. _Blast_ , she thought, _my driver’s too big._ She took a second to dig through her toolbox. As she searched she heard footsteps approaching. This time it wasn’t Kylo Ren, however, it was---General Hux?

 

She was surprised to see the General on the lower levels, especially unaccompanied by troopers or other guards. His boots clicked on the shiny duracrete as he walked closer to her. _Just keep your head down ~~Rey~~ Yeera, I’m sure he’ll walk right on by._ She pretended to be absorbed in finding something in her toolbox.

He did _not_ walk right on by. He stopped sharply, standing next to her, and coughed. More terrified than Rey would have liked to admit to herself, she looked up at him.

 

“Technician Yeera?” he asked, his voice clipped.

 

She nodded, standing up and performing an unsure salute. “General Hux, sir.”

 

“No need to salute Technician, last I checked you’re not a soldier.”

 

Rey blushed, she had only saluted because she had seen the stormtroopers do it. _Should have thought about that one Yeera._

She stood there, silent, embarrassed, waiting to see what he wanted. It didn’t take long.

 

“I’ve heard about you.” He said with a smile. Rey was unnerved by his words, and by his smile. It was the smile of someone who knows a secret. He seemed to be waiting for her to respond.

 

“Oh? Have you, sir?” she answered, not sure what he wanted.

 

 _So, this was the technician who was driving Kylo Ren into madness?_ Hux looked her over. She was pretty, he supposed, but he had somehow expected someone more _interesting_. This wasn’t at all the kind of girl he had expected Ren would be into. Heavy makeup, tattoos, piercings, angry at the world, those all seemed more his speed.

“Yes. I was told, actually, that you had fixed a TIE fighter yesterday that the lead technician had been unable to fix, one that was destined for the scrap yard,” Hux continued.

 

Relief flooded Rey’s face at the General’s words. _Oh, that’s what this is about? Whew._

She nodded, “Yes, sir.”

 

“And can you explain how you managed to do what everyone else believed was impossible?”

 

She furrowed her brows as she looked over his shoulder at someone approaching. Hux had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as he heard Kylo Ren’s stomping feet behind him. _Of course he would be nearby._

“General Hux,” said Kylo with false enthusiasm, “Harassing the new recruits, are we?” _Why is he talking to Yeera,_ wondered Kylo. _Trying to undermine me? Does he want her for himself?_

“Just taking at look at one, Ren,” said Hux, arching an eyebrow. “Yeera here accomplished quite the feat of mechanics yesterday.”

 

“Well that doesn’t mean you can just interrupt technicians as they work General. I’m sure she’s busy with something important,” said Kylo.

 

Rey watched the two commanders interact. From the tone of Hux’s voice it seemed almost like he was… _teasing_ Kylo Ren. _That can’t be right._ She thought to herself. _Are they friends?_ _Why am I seeing this, how on earth am I involved?_

 

She cleared her throat softly, trying to get their attention in a way that wouldn’t also earn their wrath. Both ignored her and continued their conversation, or maybe argument? She wasn't sure.

 

She cleared her throat again more loudly. Both men turned to look at her.

 

“What?!” they said in unison, annoyed at the interruption.

 

“May I be dismissed?” she asked, attempting to remain timid rather than exasperated at yet another waste of her time.

 

General Hux flapped a hand at her and said, “Yes, of course,” at the same time as Kylo Ren said, “No, don’t go.” Both men glared at eachother.

 

"You may be dismissed," said General Hux, overruling Ren. Rey almost sighed in relief.

 

“I will escort you,” said Kylo Ren, to her surprise.

 

 _Stay respectful,_ Rey reminded herself, _no need to cast suspicion on yourself._ “Thank you, Lord Ren,” she said, and began walking away to somewhere, anywhere really, that wasn’t occupied by the two highest-ranking commanders of the enemy.

 

Kylo hung back for a moment as she strode away waiting for her to get out of earshot. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he hissed at Hux, poking him hard in the chest with a gloved finger.

 

Hux grinned infuriatingly, “I was merely curious. I wanted to see the girl that had been distracting you from your duties.”

 

Kylo wanted to punch Hux but instead settled for slamming his fist into the wall next to him. “Just…just stay away from her,” he said. And with that terribly unthreatening threat, he turned and walked after Yeera, lengthening his stride so he would catch up to her.

 

She walked fast. By the time he caught her she was already talking to someone. A man in a gunner’s uniform. Shaved head, large birthmark on one cheek. Kylo felt the heat of jealousy rise up in his stomach. _So Matt wasn’t there for one day and she just goes around talking to other guys?_

 

At his approach the gunner stood up straighter and saluted, “Lord Ren.”

 

Kylo nodded at him, “You are dismissed.”

 

The man was obviously taken aback but wisely didn’t argue. He merely nodded to Yeera, turned on his heel and marched off.

 

Yeera was very obviously trying not to look at him. _Was she intimidated? Scared even?_ He didn’t like the thought and suddenly wished he was dressed as Matt again.

 

“So…” he began awkwardly, “General Hux, that guy sure is a jerk, huh?” _Kriff,_ normal conversation sounded so stupid through his mask.

 

She looked at him in confusion.

 

 _Ok, wrong tactic Kylo._ “How are you fitting in here?” he tried instead.

 

Again, she didn’t answer, but merely looked at him in confusion.

 

 _Ah blast,_ he thought, _I’d better just go change._ And without any further attempts at conversation he just stalked off.

 

* * *

 

Rey could feel Matt watching her as she pushed the food around her plate at lunch. The rehydrated meat spread sandwich was one of the better meals in the mess, so she forced herself to take small intermittent bites. No use in starving.

 

“Green eyes are the rarest,” said Matt abruptly.

 

She quirked an eyebrow at him, “Really? On which planet?”

 

“No, in the galaxy,” he said quickly, “Black and yellow are most common, of course, then most of the human colors starting with brown, then that Abraxian orange, then green. Not many species even have it.”

 

Rey wasn’t sure what his point was, “Well, my eyes aren’t really even green, they have too much brown in them.”

 

“Suit yourself,” he shrugged, mashing his food angrily but not eating it, “If you don’t want to take a compliment---”

 

“A statistical analysis is hardly a compliment,” she laughed.

 

He glared at her. “Fine,” he said, picking up his untouched tray and standing. _She was so infuriating!_ “Your eyes are pretty,” he said gruffly, before stomping away.

 

Rey could feel the heat rising to her face as she blushed.

 

* * *

 


	4. Snippets, Part 2

* * *

 

Rey was happy when she finally managed to find a few moments to speak with Poe. His disguise was pretty good, she thought. He'd shaved his head to a fine stubble and donned a rather large artificial birthmark on one cheek. He even managed to talk differently somehow, giving himself an unusual inflection. It had taken her several moments to realize it was him when he had tried to get her attention earlier.

 

Talking in hushed voices in the hallway, they exchanged quick progress reports. Poe was doing well. He’d managed to cause a lot of gun problems without being suspected, next up he was going to try to disable the tractor beams. Happy that someone was getting _something_ done, Rey related her own progress, or rather, her lack thereof.

 

“I’ve been limited to night work, mostly, which is hard because there’s no excuse for me to be there,” she complained, “But word got out somehow that I can fix things pretty damn well so I’ve been _swamped_ with repair orders during the day and between that and having Matt around all the time, my options are pretty limited.”

 

“Matt?” asked Poe.

 

“Yeah, he’s this radar technician, we met the first day. He’s a nice guy actually, but he never seems to really have any work to do…” she trailed off and gestured behind him. “He’s walking over here right now, actually.”

 

“And that is my cue to exit,” said Poe. He marched off, boots clicking.

 

Matt came up next to her as she watched Poe leave. “Who is that guy?” he asked, his voice an uncharacteristic (well, to Rey) growl.

 

“Oh, he’s a friend. The one I told you about, remember? He came onboard at the same time as me. He’s a gunner,” said Rey, hoping she didn’t sound too suspicious. _I’m sure people onboard have friends in other departments, that can’t be too unusual._

White-hot rage boiled in front of Kylo’s eyes. _Ugh, I hate that guy. He looks strong._ Matt unconsciously flexed his arms. “I don’t like him.”

 

Yeera looked at him, surprised. “You don’t like him? You haven’t even met him.”

 

“I have,” Matt insisted, “He kicked my wrench when I was working on a panel earlier. He was a jerk about it too,” he fabricated. _There, maybe that’ll get her to stay away from him._

 

 _That really doesn’t sound like Poe,_ thought Rey, but she didn’t have any way to dispute it. “Well, I’m sorry that happened to you, but I promise he’s a great guy actually.”

 

Matt’s face looked stricken at that, “Well—I have to go.” He turned and walked away, not bothering to say goodbye.

 

“But you only…just…got here…” Rey was left alone in the hallway, wondering what she had done wrong.

 

* * *

 

“What are you reading?” Matt asked Yeera the next evening as she pored over the schematics on her holopad. The grey-green meat and slimy rehydrated vegetables of dinner sat untouched on the tray in front of her.

 

“Oh, nothing,” she said. “Its stupid.” She had finally had a free moment last night to work on her part of the project and now she was reviewing what she had left to do. After she had figured out how to hot-wire her door to let her out after curfew things had become a lot easier. _We’re getting close,_ she thought. _Just a few more days should do it._

 

Matt smirked a bit and pushed his glasses up his face, “I’m sure its not, what is it?”

 

“It’s just a holobook,” she said, pretending to be embarrassed, “A romance. It’s called, ‘Love amongst the Wookiees.’ Have you heard of it?” _There, a romance novel should kill his curiosity._

 

He made a face, “No, I definitely have not.”

 

They both laughed.

 

* * *

 

 

Later that evening Rey was sitting on the ground in her tiny quarters, trying and failing to meditate, when she heard a knock at the door.

 

“Come in?” she called, confused as to who would be visiting her. She and Poe had agreed to have as little contact as possible.

 

It was Matt, dark eyes bright behind the thick lenses of his glasses. “Um…hi. I brought you some of my holobooks.” He extended his hands, which were full of small discs. Each had a title written in small, meticulous handwriting. The names were things like ‘Adventures in the Outer System,’ ‘Terror on Ord Mantel,’ ‘Spaceman Salvatore,’ and others.

 

“I didn’t have any romances,” he said, embarrassed. “Mostly just old pulp fiction stuff, some mysteries. But I figured since you like to read you might like them anyway.”

 

Rey was touched. “Yeah, of course. Come in.” She realized immediately after saying ‘come in’ that it might not be the _best_ idea, the room was barely big enough for one person, let alone two.

 

Matt didn’t seem to mind as he squeezed into the room. It was indeed tiny. There was room for nothing more than a thin twin bed and a nightstand, and with the two of them in there it felt even more cramped. The ceiling wasn’t high enough for Matt to stand comfortably, so he sat on the bed, trying not to feel awkward. He’d never been in a girl’s room before. _Not that this room was particularly personal or anything_. Still, he blushed slightly thinking about it.

 

To distract himself he dumped the discs onto the bed and started to sort through them. Rey sat on the other side of the pile and began to look through them as well, letting out small noises of joy at each one, peering close to examine the illustrations.

 

“Did you draw all of these?” she asked in wonder. He nodded. Back when he had been younger it had been a hobby of his, meticulously crafting an illustration for each disc.

 

Watching her, hands delicate as they sifted through his treasures, Kylo wondered again why he was doing this. Those discs were some of the only things he had left of home. No one should know about them. He probably shouldn’t even have kept them… _Why do I want to share them with her?_

Her eyes lit up at a particular title. “A New Hope?” she asked. “Is this a Jedi story? I thought they were all banned." She looked up at him with awe and his heart clenched tightly, hammering hard against the cage of his ribs. "How did you get these?”

 

He blushed furiously and grabbed the disc out of her hands, “Oh, that one wasn’t supposed to be in there…”

 

Still curious, Rey leaned over the pile and tried to wrest it out of his hands, but he was surprisingly strong. “No, its ok, I won’t tell—,” she struggled with the disc, “I want to read _that one_.”

 

He laughed at her attempts to get it out of his hands. Her frustration was oddly adorable, dark hair falling into her face and eyes flashing in mock anger, but it was all for naught _._  His large hands allowed him to palm the disc entirely, and no matter how valiantly her fingers scrabbled at his own she couldn’t get him to open his hand.

 

“C’mon, give it here,” she pouted, sticking out her bottom lip.

 

He laughed again, holding the disc out first to one side, then the other, and then over his head as she tried to grab for it. Laughing as well, she feinted left toward the disc and then tackled him, pushing him back in the tight space of the bed until she was basically sitting on top of him.

 

In his surprise he loosed his grip on the disc and she ripped it from his hands.

 

“Success!” she crowed, joyful. She began a victory dance, seemingly unaware that she was still on top of him, and proceeded to whack her head on the low hanging ceiling.

 

“Ow!” she cried in surprise, grabbing the back of her head.

 

He immediately sat up to try and help but only made things worse. His shift in movement caused her to begin to tip backwards off the tiny bed. Before she could hit the ground, he caught her, pulling her tight to him so she could regain her balance. That weird, roiling feeling rose up in his chest again, hot and panicked. This time he went with it. _Here goes nothing._ He leaned forward and kissed her.

 

She responded with enthusiasm, lips meeting his own in a somewhat awkward, but still passionate kiss—but after a moment she faltered and pulled away.

 

 _Did I do something wrong?_ Kylo wondered. He might not have the greatest breadth of romantic experience, but he knew what was supposed to go where and mostly when.

 

Yeera’s voice was odd when she spoke, “I don’t think this is the best idea--,” she said, hazel eyes downcast.

 

“You don’t like me,” he said, feeling defeated.

 

“No!” she cried, reaching out to touch his arm, “No, Matt, that’s not it.” She hesitated, trying to think of a story that wouldn’t reveal that she was a spy for the Resistance, “It’s just that I---I won’t be here much longer. On the ship, I mean, I’m being transferred.”

 

“Oh,” he said, unsure how to handle that news. “I should---I should go, shouldn’t I?” He stepped away from her awkwardly, though they were still close in such a small space.

_No,_ she thought, but she nodded instead. “Probably.” She handed the holobook disc back to him, dropping it into his hand to avoid a further touch.

 

He turned and left the room. She caught a glimpse of the hurt look on his face as he went and her chest constricted tightly.

 

 _Blast it to hell, I find I guy I actually kind of like and he has to work for the enemy. Of course._ She sank back onto the small bed and cradled her head in her hands. _Stupid, Rey. Just put it out of your mind. It’s not going to work out..._

 

* * *

  

“Hux!” Bellowed Kylo, storming into the bridge later that evening. He was dressed in his usual cape and mask getup. Unimpressed by his temper, Hux arched a manicured brow in question.

 

“Are you transferring my maintenance technician?” Kylo asked in outrage. His anger made anything not bolted down quake violently. Stormtroopers slunk out of the room in fear.

 

“Your---maintenance technician?” asked Hux in confusion. “Oh, you mean the one you’ve been pursuing…”

 

“I am not _pursuing_ her,” bellowed Kylo, “I am _investigating_ her.”

 

“Sure, sure,” said Hux, annoyed at being interrupted in front of his crew. “My sources tell me you were _investigating_ her quarters last night. How was it Ren? Enjoyable? I can’t imagine you’ve had a lot of practice in the matter…”

 

That was the final straw for Kylo. In a scream of rage he ignited his lightsaber, slashing wildly at the control panels surrounding them. He was sorely tempted to take a swing at Hux but he knew the consequences of that action would be dire. Hux didn’t seem scared, or even surprised at Kylo’s outburst. That made him even angrier.

 

“Don’t. Spy. On. Me.” He shouted, punctuating each word with a slash of his blade. Panting, he deactivated it. The words tumbled out of his mouth without meaning to, embarrassment staining his cheeks pink beneath his helm. “She told me she was being transferred, that that was why we couldn’t…”

 

Composed as always, Hux chuckled. He couldn’t keep himself from teasing Ren when the opportunity arose. “Well, Ren, I think she lied to you. She’s not being transferred anywhere, she’s one of the best technicians we have.” He lowered his voice into a patronizing tone, “You know, I know you don’t have a lot of experience, but sometimes, when a woman doesn’t like you, instead of telling you, she’ll just invent a reason…”

 

“Aaaghhhh,” yelled Kylo in frustration, throwing the hilt of his saber against the wall near Hux. Hux, laughing loudly, was forced to dodge and lost his composure for a moment.

 

“Blast it,” Hux yelled back, “Calm down for a moment Ren and come back here! Twelve Hells!”

 

But it was too late, and Kylo stomped out of the room.

 

* * *

 

 

“I don’t know Rey, that guy is really suspicious. Are you sure he’s not up to something?” whispered Poe as they worked in the cramped side hallway that contained the engine ports.

 

It was late. _Very late_. After hours was the only time they could meet up to do the final necessary piece of sabotage, immobilizing the ship. It was a tricky bit of work. They couldn’t just kill the engines because they kept the life-support running, but they needed to make sure the _Finalizer_ wouldn’t be going anywhere fast.

 

“Matt?” she laughed, “What could he be up to?” She fiddled with another piece of equipment, “Anyway, keep your eyes on the corridor. If someone catches us in here we’re dead.”

 

Poe shrugged and went back to watching, “Like I said, I don’t know, he just…gives me a weird feeling.” He shuddered. “I asked around and nobody knows a thing about him, no stories, no nothing. _And_ , I think he has a thing for you.”

 

“What, no, he doesn’t,” said Rey, blushing. She didn’t want to discuss _that_ with Poe of all people, he got so over-protective sometimes. She pulled a bunch of wires with more force than was strictly necessary.

 

“Oh no,” said Poe and rolled his eyes. “You like him too!” he accused, laughing quietly.

 

“I mean, he’s nice,” Rey admitted, thinking about the night before. “Ok, very nice.”

 

“Honestly, he reminds me of Ben Solo.”

 

“What?!” she gave him a look of disgust, “No he doesn’t. Poe, you’re crazy!”

 

“Hear me out, I knew Ben when he was a kid, before he was---well, whoever the hell he is now. And this guy, this guy reminds me of him.”

 

“So, what, you think Kylo Ren spends his spare time dressing up like a radar technician to do…what exactly?” _Hang out with me? Follow me around while I work? Kiss me?_ No. It was too weird to even comprehend. But then…the more she considered it, the more she had to admit that Poe might have an iota of a point--there were a few similarities, however slight.

 

Poe shrugged again, “I’m not saying it _is_ him. Just, be careful is all. People here aren’t always as nice as they seem.” He paused as he heard a loud stride coming down the hallway. “Blast it! Someone’s coming,” he whispered, voice frantic.

 

“I’ve almost got it, just two more seconds,” she whispered back, pinching the glued pieces together so they would dry faster, “Just go,” she waved a hand at him, “Meet me tomorrow and we’ll get off this damn ship.”

 

Poe took off, moving stealthily down the hallway in the opposite direction of the steps.

 

Rey heard the steps grow louder as they neared the corridor. She couldn’t let go of the epoxy for another second, panicked, she cast her eyes about for a place to hide.

 

The steps halted.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
>  
> 
>  


	5. Discovery

* * *

 

Kylo was pacing the hallway. It was late, _very late_ , he thought as he looked up at the chrono, but he couldn’t sleep. What he really wanted to do was go talk to Yeera, but he knew she would be asleep right now, so, instead, he found himself wandering the ship.

 

He had never met anyone like her. Most people bored him within the first few minutes of conversation, but she always kept him guessing. She was an eternal mystery. Without thinking, his steps took him down to the lower decks, close to the comforting hum of the engines.

 

He heard a noise up ahead of him. _No one should be out of bed at this hour_. Crew quarters locked automatically at 11 pm unless there was some sort of emergency. _A good mechanic could get around that though…_ He sped up and turned the corner to find—

 

Nothing.

 

 _No, wait._  There was a sort of alcove leading to the engine corridor with a maintenance closet in it. He could see from here that the door wasn’t fully closed. _Against regulations._ He walked over and wrenched it open. Just as he feared, he was met with the hazel eyes of the very woman he wanted to see. She smiled sheepishly but it came out more like a grimace.

 

“Yeera!” he said, “You’re out after curfew?” _Blast it._ He thought, _She really is a spy, isn’t she? Hux is going to love this._

 

“Oh, uh, Lord Ren--,” Rey searched for an answer, “—I was just taking stock of the maintenance supplies?”

 

 _Lord Ren? Oh._ He had completely forgotten that he was dressed as himself. _Right. Kriff._

 

“Come with me,” he said, slipping back into his ‘commanding officer’ voice. He turned at began marching away. She followed, warily, but without comment.

 

 _Damnit Rey,_ she thought, _if he wasn’t suspicious before….I’m probably headed straight to General Hux, or maybe for a stint in the brig first._ She steeled herself for whatever lay ahead.

 

She wasn’t sure yet if Kylo Ren had worked out exactly who she was, so she took a chance and hoped he was distracted enough not to notice. Reaching out with the Force, she sent an urgent message to Poe.

 

 _Caught. Will try escape. Meet at pod 12, soon._ She willed the words as hard as she could and hoped they would find him.

 

Rey watched _him_ as they walked. Seeing him now, in front of her, she couldn’t get Poe’s words out of her head. _Ok, Matt v. Kylo Ren._ Both were tall, had that same kind of stomping walk, but that was where the similarities ended. There was no way that Matt, _her Matt_ , the thoughtful guy who brought her breakfast, who picked out books for her, who didn’t know what a spanner was, could be _Kylo Ren_ , the evil masked monster who had taken her prisoner and killed his own father.

 

Everything was silent on the ship except for the loud stride of the man ahead of her, and her own muted footsteps behind. To her surprise his steps took them away from the brig, away from Officer’s row, and toward the top of the ship. She tried to recall from the schematics where it was they were going but she couldn’t remember what was up here. Nothing functional.

 

After what felt like ages they came to a halt in front of a plain looking door. Kylo Ren punched in an access code and the door slid open. He stood aside and gestured for Rey to enter. She did, warily, expecting some trap, but instead she was greeted with a sight that made her gasp.

 

The entire ceiling and walls of the room, saving the wall they had entered from, were clear dura-plastic, displaying the entire glimmering galaxy sky. The room was nothing but stars. The expanse of space stretched out in front of her forever, feeling like it would swallow her whole. It was beautiful.

 

“The observatory,” said Kylo from behind her. Rey flinched at the mechanical sound of his voice.

 

“Why did you bring me here?” Rey asked, before she could help herself.

 

A hiss of breath escaped the mask, a sigh? Or a laugh?

 

“You are a spy for the Resistance.”

 

“I’m not! I told you, I was just taking stock of the supplies--”

 

“Do _not_ lie to me.” He clenched his fist briefly and Rey felt a brush of pressure at her throat. A reminder. “I don’t want to hurt you, Yeera, but I will if you don’t tell me the _truth_.” His voice was deadly calm, “You are a spy. You work for the Resistance.”

 

“I’m not lying---,” Rey cried, trying her best to salvage the situation, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, I don’t know anything about the Resistan--,”

 

He cut her off, “Enough.” He swept a hand toward her, pushing her backwards with the Force. Rey let herself be pushed, stumbling slightly. He might know she was Resistance, but he still didn’t seem to realize who she was. _I may still be able to surprise him and escape._

There was a moment of silence then, where he watched her. The cold shiny metal of his mask hiding all emotion. Giving away nothing but her own nervous reflection.

His voice seemed sadder, quieter, when he spoke again, “I didn’t think it would be true.” He turned away from her and reached up to his mask, unclipping it.

 

Rey froze.

 

“Do you like it here?” he asked, voice familiar without the mask.

_Oh, fuck,_ thought Rey, _I know that voice. Poe was right. Blast it. Poe was right. _Her brain went into overdrive.

 

“The observatory, I mean,” he continued, “I—Matt, was hoping to bring you here, eventually.” He turned around.

 

“Fuck.” The word dropped out of her mouth before she could help herself.

 

It was strange to see that familiar face in such a setting. Those same eyes surrounded by dark curls instead of shaggy blond hair. Disconcerting.

 

“You lied about being transferred.” His voice was cold.

 

“Matt--,” she began, but he cut her off.

 

“No-- _don’t_ call me that,” he shook his head, voice hurt. “I _trusted_ you, Yeera, I _liked you._ And you lied to me.” He was practically shouting now.

 

 _Hypocrite!_ His anger made Rey angry right back. As if he could sense it, his eyes narrowed. It was an expression she had never seen Matt wear, harsh and cold and calculating.

 

“I trusted _you_!” she yelled back. “You think I would have---spent time with you, _kissed you_ , if I knew who you really were?” They were closer now, as she shouted up into his face. He towered over her but she was no longer intimidated, just angry. “You think I would choose to have _feelings_ for a _monster_?” She spat the last word.

 

His eyes widened and there was a moment where she could tell she had hurt him, before the walls came back up.

 

“Feelings?” he asked, voice quiet.

 

She laughed coldly, “Well anything I thought I felt is long gone.” _Liar,_ her brain told her, but she ignored it, pushing through to the anger that bubbled up in her throat, hot and sour. “No one could feel anything for a murderous, lying, traitorous sack of--,”

 

“ENOUGH,” he roared. He raised his hand to use the Force. To do what she wasn’t sure—she somehow still didn’t believe he would hurt her, even knowing all he was capable of—but she blocked anyway, instinctively, using the Force herself to shove him backwards roughly.

 

 _That_ got his attention.

 

“ _You,_ ” he said, voice full of a mixture of rage and awe as it dawned on him who she truly was, “The scavenger girl.” He pressed back against her will with his own.

 

“Rey,” she growled, forcing him back another step.

 

“ _Rey,_ ” he breathed back.

 

There was a moment of stillness when neither moved. She felt his consciousness brush against her own and strengthened her defenses. He bristled at that, face darkening further.

 

His hand went to his belt, drawing his saber and activating it with a piecing hum, “So…this was all a trick.” The smell of ozone filled the room as he twirled the saber in his grip, almost leisurely. “You infiltrate my ship--,”

 

“General Hux’s ship,” she said automatically, knowing it would make him angrier.

 

“—MY ship,” he continued, “To spy on me, to  _humiliate me_. Well, _scavenger_ , you wont get the chance to make such a mistake again.”

 

She kept her eyes on the glowing blade of his lightsaber as it spun. _Trying to intimidate me,_ she thought. _Well it wont work, Matt. I know you better than that by now._ She wished she had her own blade.

“This…this wasn’t about you,” she said softly and he paused. “I mean…I had suspicions about Matt, but I—I didn’t know. I liked him,” she admitted.

 

“Liar!” he shouted, and swung at her with his saber.

 

Their nearness made it easy for Rey to dodge. Kylo couldn’t get the full range of motion on his swing with her standing so close, and he had to be careful not to trip himself up. Each slash had to be cautious in order not to brush the surrounding walls. The duraplastic was thin here--one touch could cause a breach.

 

Rey took advantage of that, dodging but keeping close to him or hugging the wall, making small pushes with the Force, steering his slashes away from her. Kylo grew more frustrated with each dodge, swinging wildly. He didn’t seem to care if he hit her or not.

 

His lightsaber vibrated violently in his grip. The hum of the blade graduating into a high-pitched whine. Kylo grit his teeth with the effort of keeping his hands steady.

 

Rey suddenly realized what she had to do.

 

She focused in on the hilt of his saber, reaching out with the Force. She couldn’t both split her focus and dodge properly, so she stepped back and dropped her hands, giving him an easy target. Counting on him not to take it.

 

“Hah,” he yelled in triumph, seeing the opening. He raised his saber over his head, preparing for a powerful ending strike and---hesitated.

 

Hazel met black as their eyes locked. One moment seemed to stretch into infinity as each imagined what things could have been like if everything had been… _different_. _Better._

 

“I’m sorry,” said Rey, her voice a whispered choke. Her mind had reached the crystal at the heart of his blade. She felt the rough edges of the crack and _shoved._

The blade of the lightsaber _fizzed_ and sparked becoming quickly transparent. The handle vibrated with more force, sparks flying out of it now. Kylo had a moment to stare at it in desperation before the hilt cracked open and crumbled in his hands, releasing a shockwave of the Force that blew them both backwards and off their feet, slamming them into the walls.

 

Because she had been expecting it. Rey recovered more quickly. She leapt up, hurtling towards the door. She slammed her hand on the access panel, hoping she had correctly remembered the sequence. She could hear him standing up behind her. Part of her was relieved he wasn’t hurt, part of her knew that meant escape would be that much harder.

 

The door hissed open and Rey ran.

 

Her booted feet skidded along the slippery duracrete. _Blast, where am I going?_ She wondered as she tore around the corners at breakneck speed. A flood of emotions washed over her. She ground the heels of her hands into her eyes, trying to stem the tears.

 

 _You’re not crying._ She told herself as she ran to the escape pod.

 

* * *

 

The night gunner stifled a yawn. Third shift, while it paid best, was certainly boring. But with the blockade up someone had to be on deck at all times, making sure there were no midnight runs.

 

He felt another yawn rise up and gave in to it, closing his eyes and stretching widely. When he opened them again there was a small blip on the screen in front of him. He nudged his partner, Eret, who was dozing in her chair.

 

“We’ve got something.”

 

The other gunner started awake, “Ouri, wha—oh shoot, that looks like one of ours.” She checked her own screen, zooming in on the reading. “An escape pod. Signature 12.”

 

He nodded, “Scanning to see if anyone’s inside.” He tapped quickly on the data panel in front of him. “Two life-forms.”

 

“Defectors?” asked Eret. “Whoever it is they’re not sanctioned. Let’s take ‘em down.”

 

Ourios pulled up the trigger array, lining the pod up in his sights, “Target ready.”

 

“Hold your fire,” came a mechanical voice from behind them.

 

“Lord Ren,” they saluted in surprise.

 

“Orders are no one is supposed to make it through the blockade, even our own,” said Eret.

 

“Let them go. On my orders. If Hux complains send him to me.”

 

And with that, he was gone.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second to last chapter, hope you all don't mind a little angst.
> 
>  
> 
> Let me know your thoughts on what you'd like to see in the aftermath! I've got ideas but I'm always curious..


	6. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last one! Thanks for all the comments and feed back everyone! This piece has been a lot of fun from start to finish :)

* * *

 

It was late in the evening when Hux heard a knock at his door. He’d been enjoying a glass of Phrygian Scotch as he reviewed the day’s reports. With the ship scuttled since early this morning and maintenance doing all they could to fix it, he was being given a welcome-- _and well-deserved,_ he thought to himself--break. He pulled a robe on over his black silk pajamas, embroidered with the First Order logo, of course, and pressed the access panel on the door. It slid open.

 

Outside was Kylo Ren, disheveled and looking like hell. Hux raised his eyebrows.

 

“You look like you could use a drink,” said Hux, making his way over to his private bar. Kylo followed him and collapsed onto one of the chairs, his usual angry look replaced with one of brooding contemplation.

 

Hux poured a glass of scotch and pressed it into Kylo’s hand. As much as he loved to tease the younger man, Kylo might be the closest thing he had to a friend on board. _Well, and Phasma,_ he thought, _to be fair._ She was just always busy these days.

 

He sat down across from the other man and sipped delicately. After a moment Kylo seemed to notice the glass in his hand. He sniffed it with interest before pounding it in a single chug.

 

Hux nearly choked. “That’s Phrygian Scotch--,” he scowled at Ren, “Must you ruin everything you touch?”

 

Kylo nodded glumly, “Apparently.” He stood and poured himself another glass, sipping it carefully this time.

 

“It was your mechanic girl, wasn’t it?” sighed Hux, rubbing his hand over his forehead. “The one who scuttled the ship.”

 

Kylo nodded again, “She’s that same scavenger girl from the Resistance.”

 

“The Force user?” asked Hux, vaguely aware of her and Kylo’s previous interactions, “That’s rough.” He kindly refrained from pointing out that it strained belief that two of the most powerful Force users in the galaxy had been spending time together for weeks now and _not recognized each other._

 

Not for the first time, Hux wondered how much power a person could even really have over the Force. To him, it was inscrutable, seeming to make its own decisions without regard to the desires of those who claimed to use it. Perhaps that explained it. _Still doesn’t explain why we keep Kylo around though…_

“I told you she was lying about being transferred,” said Hux, taking another sip of scotch.

 

That received a choked laugh, “You just can’t help yourself, can you Hux? You always have to be right.”

 

“Well I _was_ right this time,” laughed Hux. He paused when he saw the look on Kylo’s face. “ _Kriff, Ren_ , you really liked her, didn’t you?”

 

Kylo shrugged.

 

Hux sighed. “We’re going to need more scotch.”

 

* * *

 

Rey pushed the food around her plate, not touching it. It was good food too, much better than the mystery meat she had choked down on the _Finalizer,_ but she just wasn’t hungry.

 

It had been two days since she and Poe had returned from their mission.

 

She had expected it would be easier to stop wishing _he_ was here. _He’s the enemy Rey,_ she told herself as she stewed over her lunch, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted to see those dark eyes light up again, to share stories they had read, to teach him how to repair an engine.

 

She sighed. _Are these normal feelings? Does everyone feel like this?_ She didn’t have a lot of experience with crushes, and none at all with love. Was everything always so _complicated_?

 

Finn and Poe sat down across from her, ignoring her uncharacteristic silence as they continued their conversation. She watched them, the way Finn brushed his fingertips over Poe’s arm, making any excuse to touch him. The way Poe stared at Finn when he thought no one was looking.

 

Rey sighed again. Normally watching them flirt brought her nothing but happiness, but today it was just an annoying reminder of everything she was missing. She picked up her tray and headed out of the mess.

 

She needed to be alone for a bit.

* * *

 

 

The first time Matt and Yeera met again, it was in the remains of the old Rebel base on Hoth.

It was easy to fight then. They were both angry. The red lightsaber clashing against the blue, the dance and the fury of it. A release of all the frustration they had felt, and were still feeling.

 

“I see you fixed your lightsaber,” Rey taunted, dodging as he swung the crackling blade.

 

He didn’t answer.

 

Part of her was glad he didn’t. She didn’t like how the mask made him sound.

 

* * *

 

 

The second time they fought it was harder. It was hard to swing at the man who had bandaged her head, who had kissed her so sweetly. Hard to hurt the girl that had made him feel so alive.

 

Their blades danced but neither’s heart was in the fight.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The third time their lightsabers met on Dantooine. A short fight, ferocious but quick.

 

Thankfully the First Order was forced to retreat, and Kylo with them, leaving Rey alone, breathing hard as she recovered from the battle. She looked down at the small disc he had pressed into her hand.

 

‘A New Hope,’ read the meticulous script along the edge and then, smaller, newly added, ‘For Yeera.’

 

 

* * *

 

Rey returned the favor at their next fight, taking advantage of his momentary distraction to slip a disc into one of his many pockets.

 

‘Love Amongst the Wookiees’ may not have been a real story, but she was hoping ‘Crisis on Kashyyyk’ was a close enough substitute that he would understand. That he would remember.

 

 

* * *

 

They continued like that for months, trading books each time they found themselves near. It helped.

 

They didn’t speak or hold back when they fought, but after a while something felt— _different_. Like a wound as it healed, first pain, then that strange uncomfortable feeling of flesh rebuilt, the creation of something entirely new and previously unseen, until finally, _relief_.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Rey _felt_ the starship before she heard it. She was already halfway to the control room when the mayday signal came on over the comm at full blast. A piercing shriek filling the hallways of the Resistance Base.

 

The room she burst into was hectic.

 

“It’s a First Order ship, Upsilon class, coming in hot!” shouted one tech.

 

“Might be the start of an attack!” came another voice.

 

General Leia’s voice was a beacon of calm in the chaos. “Lock on target.”

 

“No! Don’t shoot!” yelled Rey, trying to be heard over the roar of shouting. “I know who it is! It’s not an attack!”

 

No one heard her except the General.

 

“Wait!” cried Leia, and everyone froze. “Hold your fire.” She nodded to Rey, seeming to understand suddenly in the silence what was going on. Rey wondered if she could sense him as well.

 

Satisfied they wouldn’t shoot, Rey ran outside.

 

She could see the ship now, trailing smoke and flame. It veered widely, out of control, diving straight for the forest.

 

 _Eject. Please eject._ She thought to herself as the ship headed for impact. _Get out._

 

The ship hit hard, sending a shockwave through the base and setting a large swath of the forest ablaze. Rey clenched her eyes shut against the heat and the light, but she could still sense him, he hadn’t been in the crash, he was ok. He must have abandoned his ship in time.

 

Her eyes scanned the treeline. _There!_ A figure in black, limping, moving toward her. _Kylo Ren_. _Matt._ She ran to meet him, pausing only to take in the weary smile on his unmasked face before throwing herself into his arms, clutching him tight.

 

“Ow, Yee--Rey, _ow_!” his voice was familiar, but tired, and raspy from the smoke.

 

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly, pulling back to look at him. He kept his hands on her shoulders, afraid to let go.

 

He looked _awful._ The right half of his face was a mass of bruises and cuts, with a prominent black eye dominating the mess. Blood seeped from a gash on his lip, and more from another on his forehead. Rey couldn’t see, but she was guessing the rest of him was just as bad. She didn’t care. In that moment she didn’t think she had ever seen anyone so handsome. “What happened to you?”

 

“I left,” he chuckled, before wincing and clutching his ribs, “And then I crashed a ship.”

 

She slipped her arm under his, helping to support him with her shoulders as she walked him back toward the base. “Yeah,” she smiled, “I saw that last part. And the black eye?”

 

“Hux,” said Kylo, reaching up to touch his face with a grimace that hid half a smile. “His heart wasn’t in it though.”

 

She stopped and turned to face him, reaching up to gently run her fingers over his bruises. “I’m glad you finally came. It took you long enough.”

 

"I'm sorry." It was the first time she had ever heard him apologize for anything. He started to bite his lip and winced when he hit the cut. “It was harder than I expected.”

 

They paused then, taking each other in. It felt like they had been waiting for this moment forever. He bent his head to kiss her and she tilted hers back to meet him. For a single instant, nothing existed but them.

 

“I have something for you,” said Kylo when they finally broke apart.

 

They had stopped moving toward the base, savoring this moment just between the two of them. Knowing that when they reached everyone else things were going to get— _complicated_ again. That there would be explanations and trials and apologies.

 

“Oh?” asked Rey, quirking her eyebrows.

 

He stretched out his hand. Resting in his palm was a holobook disc. “Last one in my collection.”

 

She took it from his hand, studying the tiny print, the meticulous illustration.

 

‘The Return of the Jedi’

 

She smiled.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading! You all have been so wonderful. I hope you all enjoyed it :)
> 
> As a bonus, here's some beautiful fanart by Cheesytriangle:
> 
>  
> 
> [Click](http://cheesytriangle.tumblr.com/post/138632201297/based-on-this-fic-which-is-so-so-so-cute)


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